Archives

Blog Archive

Miki's Hope Stats

Miki's Stuff-Disclosures, Cookie Policy, GDPR Compliance

Friday, November 8, 2013

If you are a gamer and understand virtual reality and love Sci Fi then you will really love this book. It was one of the winners of the Forward Reviews 2012 Book of the year awards. I have to admit I was a bit lost through most of the book not being a gamer and knowing little to nothing about virtual reality much less computers. I did become interested about 3/4 of the way through. It actually delves into the uploading of human minds into a virtual reality body. The Pros and cons of this are subtlety intertwined in the story. The ending will give you the chills!

About the Book (from Amazon)

His criminal past catching up with him, a troubled young man seeks escape into digital utopia by uploading his consciousness into a computer -- just as first love casts his life in a new light. In this thrilling near-future science-fiction novel, Mark McClelland explores the immense potential of computer-based consciousness and the philosophical perils of simulated society.

Mark McClelland studied Computer Science and Creative Writing at the University of Michigan’s Residential College, where he won a Hopwood Award for poetry. After graduating in 1994, he promptly sold his soul to his software career, and is now thinking he might need that back. He writes in search of truths that defy simple, direct expression, and publishes to share his discoveries with others.

Mark lives in Chicago with his wife, Nancy, and two cats, in the warm and personable Logan Square neighborhood. Outside of coding and writing, he enjoys traveling, reading, studying foreign languages, drawing, sailing, gaming, building robots to entertain the cats, and inventing cocktails as Chief Mixologist at Jo Snow Syrups. He is currently working on a children’s story featuring a fox named Cyril Frolix. He also writes poetry for his wife, sole member of the Poem-of-the-Month Club.

My Daughter is really into Sci-Fi, me not so much any longer. I used to read a lot of science fiction, not sure why I don't any longer. This book sounds good though and who knows what will be able to happen with us and computers of the future.

I was never a sci-fi fan until I read a few titles within the genre to better understand some of my students who were infatuated with it. While I never thought I would say this, this type of book is growing on me. I can appreciate that the author actually has really knowledge about technology and writing, so he would be the most likely candidate to churn out an excellent sci-fi book. Thanks for sharing!

My boys would probably love this book. They are huge sci-fi reading fans and would totally get into it with their gaming "addiction". I probably would be just like you, lost until they started talking terms that made sense to me :P

Your Book Review of Upload by Mark McClelland sounds very intriguing. I love Sci Fi and enjoy thinking about how our world is evolving around us. I'm not usually one to read fiction but this is a great review. Nice post!

Thanks for the review. It's exciting to see so much interest in my book!

For those saying sci-fi isn't your thing, I've heard from many readers who don't typically read sci-fi that "Upload" felt different. The love story and exploration of the main character's troubled psychology make this a pretty "human" sci-fi novel. If you hit some thorny technological sections that don't really interest you, you have my permission to skim them! :)

Pam and Dawn, depending on how young your children are, I might steer you away from this book. I think of this as being a 14-and-up book, because of language and some sexual content.